May 17, 1945 – News From NBC – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Despite celebrations in Europe, fighting continued in the Pacific. U.S. Army and Marines, having landed on Okinawa were in the slow and bloody process of Capturing the strategic island. As of this day, Marines were approaching the city of Naha, the largest on Okinawa.
The initial invasion of Okinawa on 1 April 1945 was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Kerama Islands surrounding Okinawa were preemptively captured on 26 March by the 77th Infantry Division. The 82-day battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the large island of Okinawa as a base for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, 340 mi (550 km) away.
Meanwhile, celebrations were continuing in Europe with Norway celebrating the adoption of their constitution and becoming an independent nation on May 17, 1814. The holiday, which hadn’t been observed during its occupation by Nazi Germany was expected to continue for days. In this news broadcast, former member of the Norwegian underground, Julius Hougen is interviewed. He was apprehended by the Germans on December 1942 and sent to the notorious Grini Concentration camp in early 1943.
And a massive manhunt was underway throughout Europe for a number of important Nazi figures believed to be hiding out, including Joachim von Ribbentrop and Julius Streicher. The search, believed to be the largest in history, was combing every inch of ground between Denmark and Italy in search of the now-fugitives.
And while The Battle of Okinawa was continuing with no end in sight, that was a small sample of the news for this May 17th as reported by NBC Radio.
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